Christ with Us
God has promised his kids that he would never leave them and never forsake them (Heb.13:5b). Before Jesus physically left his followers after the resurrection he allowed these final words to resonate in their hearts: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mt.28:20).
While this truth can surely be a motive for righteous living, the context in both cases is intended to provide us with an assurance that frees Christians from timid or anxious lives. The guaranteed presence of God’s Spirit in our everyday lives ought to be the “harness” that emboldens us to confidently step out and do all the things God has commissioned us to do. It should be the reason we don’t “need” more protection, more money, more resources or more talent to make a huge difference for Christ (see Heb.13:5-8).
If you are his child, then God is at your side. So let’s cast off any residual excuses and let’s dive into the high calling of living for Christ with all of our hearts!
Battlefield of the Mind
The progress in our sanctification is fought in the battlefield of our minds. Though the Bible often enlists the word “heart” for the “organ” we must guard so carefully (Pr.4:23), it is important to remember that this Hebrew analogy refers to the faculty of our thoughts, reason, imagination, intention, and contemplation. When God looked on the corrupt…
Exposing Anxiety
When God confronts the sin of anxiety in Philippians 4, his prescribed remedy helps to clearly diagnose the problem – especially in the lives of those who tend to downplay its repercussions and choose to think that worry is not that big of a deal. In Philippians 4:4-8 the Lord commands five things for those …
Health
Good health is good. It is certainly preferable to sickness and disease. Occasionally you’ll find some concern for it in Scripture (3Jn.2; 1Ti.5:23). But we should be careful not to cherry-pick from the few biblical passages regarding good health in order to justify today’s wide-spread obsession with it. Many godly and productive people in the …
Anger
Anger is admittedly a volatile and dangerous emotion. But it is important to note that it is not always a sinful emotion, and it certainly isn’t always expressed in sinful ways. God gives us adequate warning that…
Superstitions
While Christians affirm that God is supernatural, we of all people should not be superstitious. Yes, we recognize that from time to time in biblical history God has spectacularly suspended natural law as a strategic way to display…
Sola Scriptura
Just before one of the strongest statements regarding the uniqueness and sufficiency of Scripture, the Bible warns us that as time marches on “evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse” (2Tim.3:13). The threat of “evil people” opposing the truth has…
Tolerance
We live in a society where the advocates of “tolerance” are increasingly intolerant. We should be careful not to miss this hypocrisy. These loud and angry voices decry views and beliefs that fail to conform to their own. Under the banner of “freedom” modern secular voices emphatically denounce the freedom of Christians to assert their …
Exiles
“Exiles!” There’s a word that doesn’t feel good. Consider the ache and frustration of being trapped in a foreign land against your will—barred for a time from your homeland. As uncomfortable as it sounds, “exiles” is precisely what the Bible says we are as God’s people scattered throughout this present world (1Pet.2:11; Heb.11:13-16; Phil.3:20). Much …
Outlook and Attitude
It doesn’t take long to discover that the Christian life is certainly not a continuous experience of fun and laughter. And yet, we ought to be careful to acknowledge a serious problem when our Christian life deteriorates into a chronic series of joyless days and melancholy weeks. While we’re obviously not exempt from severe loss …
Repent
Like a lot of preachers, Amos confessed he had no aspirations of being one. He told his critics that he was happy being a simple farmer, but that God had pressed him into service and commissioned him to call his generation to repentance (7:14-15). Being the unassuming man he was, he put his convicting sermons …